Steel
by Miska
Summary: A few months after "The Last Command", Mara reflects on her future and her identity.


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Author's Note: Hey guys! This is my first time writing Mara Jade, so I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to let me know what you think J 

Steel

Spin, thrust, step. _Crash._   
Spin, thrust, step. _Crash._   
Spin, thrust, step-   
  
Mara shut off her lightsaber in frustration as she crashed to the floor for the third time in a row. She started to throw it across the room before she remembered it was Luke's. _So what?_ A part of her brain demanded, and when she didn't like the immediate answer that came, she became so frustrated that she hurled the weapon across the gym just for the hell of it. A few heads shot up, but most were too used to seeing the famous Jade temper to care, and one of Mara's patented glares soon convinced everyone else that something very interesting was happening at the other side of the room.   


And that was just fine with Mara. It was almost comforting to know that despite the changes that had been taking place in her lately, the moments of doubt and occasional uncertainty that made her wonder if she was losing her edge, some people were still afraid of her. But even her reactions to this fear had begun to be mixed. Sometimes it gratified her- she had worked too hard her whole life not to be feared. Sometimes it amused her- she laughed to herself at people who had no backbone. And sometimes, only just recently, it had started to make her feel. . .empty.   


Mara shook her head, picked herself up off the floor, and headed towards her water bottle. A glance across the room at Luke's lightsaber lying on the floor almost made her feel guilty. _What a surprise,_ her mind whispered ironically. _Mara Jade, Woman of Steel, is capable of guilt. _  
  
_"But that's the funny thing about durasteel," Luke had said once, referring to her popular media nickname. "It seems hard, almost impossible to bend…but it can surprise you sometimes." _  
  
At the time, Mara remembered, she had made some sarcastic remark about naive Tatooine farm boys, but now she found herself recalling the words and hugging them to her. And unwillingly, Mara found herself falling back into a habit she'd vowed to break: thinking of Luke.   


_Skywalker,_ her mind supplied. And it wasn't as if she could help it. She was standing in the gym they had sparred in countless times, holding his lightsaber and trying to master a move that he had beat her with last time. Anyway, he was just a friend. Who was to stop her from having friends?   


Mara stopped and reconsidered that last thought. Was that what they were now? They had gone from enemies- at least on her part- to allies, to something more. But Mara Jade didn't have friends. Not her. Not the Woman of Steel.   


Mara nodded decidedly, and picked up her light saber. She felt confident that she could master that move now.   


Spin, thrust, step.   


_Crash._   


  
"Try spinning to your right instead," a mild voice suggested. From the floor, Mara glared up into blue eyes so intense that they could only belong to one person. "If you spin to your right, you won't have to take that extra step, and you'll be able to keep your balance." Luke elucidated, leaning down to offer her a hand. "Want to try it against a real opponent?"   


For a second, Mara considered snapping that she didn't need him, knocking his hand away, and continuing her exercises. Alone. Because, after all, wasn't that what people like her did?   


Mara reached up to take Luke's hand, used it to pull herself up, and nodded.   


"Only if you wipe that smug Jedi look off your face." The tone was brisk but not 

harsh. Luke raised his hands in an innocent gesture reminiscent of his brother-in-law, Han Solo.   


"Who, me?" But he still looked inordinately smug at the fact that she had slipped up and he had been there to see it. Mara wondered what he would say if he knew that it was because she was thinking of him, but managed to push the thought away. So what if they were friends? She failed, however, at pushing away the grin that crossed her face as they took up positions across from each other.   


And after all, even a woman of steel was allowed to have friends. 


End file.
